Archive for comics

Went to the San Antonio Comic Con this weekend. Found some great comics (which I couldn’t afford), some incredible art (bought a fantastic ‘Child’s Play’ keychain moulded to look like a VHS tape, as well as a fun little art print inspired by ‘Popcorn’). Unbelievably crowded, but fun nonetheless. This time around my friend Daniel is getting Robert Englund’s signature inked (as you can see in one of the photos below).

Sometimes you want something besides a full-on horror film. You want a taste of several things. A creepy cornucopia. A vicious variety. A -something something alliteration scary-. That’s where anthology horror takes the cake. I’ve always loved short stories, on the page and on the screen. Hopefully the following trailers (obscure and mainstream) can give you something new to watch this Halloween.

The first trailer isn’t a real one, from what I can tell, but anyone who hasn’t seen ‘Dead of Night’ is really doing themselves a disservice. It’s one of the best. Also, note that I adore all of the Amicus films, but it’d be a bit boring if I just focused on them alone.

What? I’m alive? You bet your sweet ass I am. And just to let you guys know, when I disappear for several months at a time, I’m probably not dead…undead at best, but I’m sure we all knew something like that was going to happen to me at one point or another. The sacrificial altar in my bedroom and haunted cemetery in the backyard don’t help much, really.

In all honesty, I’ve just been writing a lot of short stories (even completed a few personal novels I will very likely never publish.) The result is of course maybe a little less blog-time, but fear not! October is around the corner, and as always I will be taking part in the horror blog-a-thon as I do every year. So if you’ve been desperately starved for more vintage comics, possible Hallowholic podcast episodes, trailer compilations, playlists, pretty pictures, and gruesome historical facts…they’ll all be flying right at you on October 1st.

Anyway, I thought I’d start up a post this week with a little bit of vintage comics. The first thing that struck me about this one was actually the cover. The richness of the robe against that green backdrop…I can only imagine how incredible this must have looked crisp and new on the shelf.

The first story plays on one of my favorite tropes. Evil dolls/puppets. But…it really does explain every single action. I got the impression the writer for this one hadn’t really acquainted himself with the practice of showing rather than telling. It promises something dark, but stops just short as a moral story…sort of…I guess. The second one is again, a moral story. But I did enjoy the little ‘twist.’ Imagine Final Destination if death pretty much lost in the end, and you get the picture. The third and final story of the entry…could have used more blood, but I doubt they could’ve gotten away with it at the time. Ultimately, this was one of those ‘oh…I promise this is a scary comic’ issues, that was really general adventure/moral lessons in disguise.

The cover promised a lot for this comic, and sadly did not deliver, but the art is still worth appreciating on its own.

Right before Halloween, we come to the end of our current issue. The first story today features an antique…Krishna-Buddha fusion statue? I’m not sure. I’ve never heard of Buddha having 6 arms…but it doesn’t really matter. Such a short story, I was actually surprised by the ending. It’s honestly one of my favorites I’ve read in the comics I’ve shared so far. But I love bitter irony.

The second story is a unique twist on an age-old urban legend, of a young girl trying to get home…but never makes it, and always leaves whatever innocent driver who decided to give her a lift with a chill down his spine. Enjoyable, short, and one of the better versions of the story I’ve read.

Finally, our last story…is vaguely reminiscent of a classic Twilight Zone episode, with a much creepier looking doll.

The apple doesn’t far from the tree, and the something gruesome doesn’t…I don’t know. I was trying to come up with an appropriate pun to describe the first story in this post, but I failed miserably. I don’t know how you let me rope you into it…yeah, that one was pretty bad. I guess you don’t hit them out of the park every time. I absolutely adore the first page of the second story, however, as the colors remind me of the best sort of Tales From the Crypt art. The story itself…hopefully won’t leave you watching over your shoulder every so often in fear.

My first impression when I looked at the Black Magic series was ‘wow’. The art style is frankly excellent. Super Hero comic quality, in fact. I decided to do a little looking, and it turns out the series was made by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby…so no wonder the quality is so good. Seeing as the series started in the 50s, too, it’s a bit later than most of the comics I’ve featured so far. In fact, reading this, I grew a little irritated just thinking about how difficult it can be to find good (old) horror comics at the shops I’ve been to. Usually you’ll find gems like this tucked into the back of a ‘Misc.’ box, or beneath a stack of comics nobody has bothered to sort yet.

The stories in Black Magic are classic ones, the kind we’ve seen in many forms for decades on shows and in books. The first one features a man with little respect for death, and even less for the dying. He decides to seek the knowledge of things beyond life best left unknown. The second story proves a point I made in yesterday’s article…that mirrors are downright evil, and old ones are even worse.

This is not just one book. It is a stunning 10-volume manga series with incredibly surreal monsters and a beautiful exploration of a protagonist ultimately discovering exactly what makes him human. A lot of manga unfortunately falls short of Parasyte in many ways. I’m not saying there aren’t a lot of other incredible series out there, but…Parasyte is unique. Because it doesn’t stop at general tropes, or over-done plots.

Parasyte is horror in a pure form. It combines psychological and physical fears seamlessly. It’s about strange creatures, much like bodysnatchers, descending on the planet and trying to destroy humanity…but more than just traditional bodysnatching, they actually consume whole parts of people. What’s more, they can manipulate their bodies in truly horrific ways to accomplish their goals. Shinichi, the main character, has one of these creatures trapped in his arm, and somehow…they manage to befriend each other. I advise you to get a hold of as many issues of this as you can when you begin your journey into the series, because when you finish the first…it will be very difficult to wait to read the next.

There is nothing I love more than a mint julep, a warm summer night, and a pretentious theatre troupe digging up the dead. Why, I do declare it is the most lovely evening one can imagine. So why don’t we just all relax upon the back patio and enjoy ourselves a long, slow review with […]

Corruption and violence stalk the streets of New York, and only one undead but sometimes living man can deliver justice equally to the good and the bad, indiscriminately killing each and every one of them who stand in his way. In this episode, we discuss just how far that Maniac Cop will go in […]

I don’t want to be buried–ever, I want to live forever, but this isn’t about my issues. It’s about our issues with the new Pet Sematary. It’s also about the original. In this episode Corey and Maddy compare the two. The good. The bad. The dead and ugly. Check out this episode!

Summer is coming. I think we all know what that means–vacations. Whether it’s to a mundane motel on a stretch of beach far from civilization, a run-down mental hospital in Romania, or a charming Irish castle packed to the brim with cranky ghosts, everybody needs to unwind. This week, that’s just what Corey and […]

All around the world, it’s the same song – – weddings and honeymoons are nothing but trouble. Don’t take it from us, take it from Gene Wilder and Chevy Chase. They only ever end up in zany mayhem, mutant babies, and crazy capers with werewolves and drunken butlers. Join us in this episode as […]

I hope you’ve got a license to drive. Don’t want to get lost, boys. After all, you can’t kill gremlins or ghounies with a silver bullet. Now that we’ve got all the references to movies we’re not talking about out of the way, this is our belated April Fools special in which Corey finally […]